Harry Potter and the Difference a Puzzle Makes
by boggart21
Summary: Canon has Harry an average student everywhere except for Defense Against the Dark Arts. Canon has Harry become an Auror. But what if something happened that changed all that? What if Harry got a puzzle in First Year? What if that puzzle started him on the path to become a Cursebreaker? One puzzle changes Harry's life. Smart!Harry, Competent!Harry, Runes & Arithmancy
1. Chapter 1

**AN: Welcome! There is not enough stories where Harry becomes a Cursebreaker on this site. The few that I can think of start with him already a Cursebreaker. So I wanted to write one where Harry grows into that career. This story starts in First Year and will go through all Seven Years and likely beyond. First Year is very short, mostly because it is practically the same as canon, at least until the end. Hope you guys like it!**

 **Chapter 1**

It's fitting that this day was unusual. It was an unseasonably warm mid-November day, with blue skies and a slight wind. It's fitting that today was unusual because today was the day the world changed. If not for an innocuous letter, our story would not be necessary. Our hero would have underachieved in all of his classes except for Defense Against the Dark Arts. He would have spent his 7th year finding and destroying Horcruxes, before finally meeting Voldemort in a final battle, winning on luck and the Deathly Hallows. But luckily for us, this letter did come, and forever changed Harry Potter's life.

* * *

This letter arrived at breakfast on that November day. Harry, Ron, and Hermione had just arrived at the Great Hall, and started to fill their plates with food. Ron was busy eating, Hermione was both eating and reading, and Harry was basking in having friends. He and Ron had just saved Hermione from a Troll a couple weeks ago, and the novelty of having two friends hadn't worn off yet. In the midst of all this, owls came streaming into the Great Hall for the morning deliveries. An owl landed in front of the three of them, and stuck out its leg for Ron, who was too busy to notice. Harry, on the other hand did.

"Ron." Harry said. "You have mail." Ron grunted, and kept eating. Harry chuckled, and then poked Ron. Ron looked up quickly. "Wha' 'ou 'an'?" Ron said, spraying food out of his mouth.

"Ron please! Swallow first! That's disgusting," Hermione scolded. Ron swallowed, and smiled sheepishly at her. "Sorry Hermione. What did you need Harry?" Harry chuckled and pointed at the owl in front of him.

"You have mail," Harry said. Ron looked over at the bird, nodded his thanks to Harry, and relieved the bird of its letter and accompanying package. The bird waited for a minute, then began screeching and pecking Ron.

"You can't have any of my bacon you bloody bird!" Ron shouted, trying to fend off the bird. Harry sighed, and offered some of his bacon for the owl. "Here you go." The owl took the bacon and took off. After Hermione scolded Ron for his language, he unfurled the letter, and began reading. Harry started going through his bag, making sure he had his homework for class that day. Hermione looked over.

"Harry, why do you have your History text?" Hermione asked. "It's not Wednesday, today is Thursday!" Harry paused. "Really? Shoot! I forgot!" Harry then pulled out his timetable to remind himself of what classes he had.

 _ **Monday Tuesday Wednesday**_

 _Herbology 8:30 – 10:00 DADA 8:30 – 10:00 History of Magic8:30 – 10:00_

 _Transfiguration 10:30 – 12:00 Herbology 10:30 – 12:00 Herbology 10:30 – 12:00_

 _Lunch Lunch Lunch_

 _History of Magic 1:30 – 4:00 Charms 1:30 – 4:00 DADA 1:30 – 4:00_

 _Astronomy 11:30 – 1:00_

 _ **Thursday Friday**_

 _Charms 8:30 – 10:00 Potions 8:30 – 11:30_

 _Potions 10:30 – 12:00 Lunch_

 _Lunch Off Afternoon_

 _Transfiguration 1:30 – 4:00_

"Huh. I must be more tired than I thought. Thanks Hermione!" Harry said. He pulled out his wand, and said " _Tempus_. _"_ Out of his wand came smoke that formed into numbers at eye level. _8:03._ "I need to go back to the Common Room to grab the right books."

"I will come with you. I need to take this up to the dorm," Ron said, holding the opened package in his hand. It was a box with pieces of wood. Each piece had strange markings on it, but they looked like they would fit together to make something more.

"What is that?" Hermione asked.

"Oh, some puzzle my brother sent me." Ron said, brushing it away. "Let's go Harry."

"See you in Charms Hermione," Harry said, as he and Ron stood up and walked out of the Great Hall.

* * *

That evening, after dinner, Harry, Ron, and Hermione were in the Common Room studying up on the potion for tomorrow's Potions class, a medicinal potion for treating poisonous snake bites. The regular Potion's class on Thursday was where they learned how to cut and care for the ingredients for the next day's potion. Harry, Ron, and Hermione were making sure they remembered how to prepare all the ingredients needed.

"Do we cut the Asphodel leaves small, or are they supposed to be thick?" Harry asked. Ron looked up, clueless as well. They both looked over to Hermione, who sighed.

"Seriously? Do you guys not pay attention at all? The leaves need to be cut into long and thin strips." Hermione said, exasperatedly. "Oh right," Harry said, and went back to his Potions text, making a note in the margin. A few minutes passed before anyone spoke.

"Hey Ron. Have you looked at that puzzle you got from your brother yet?" Harry asked. Ron looked up, glad for a distraction. "Nope. I took a quick look at it, and wasn't interested. Looks too hard. I spend too much time on school work as it is; I don't need to add anything more, right?" Ron said, scowling. Harry grinned, shaking his head. "Do you mind if I take a look? Puzzles have always interested me." Ron shook his head and was about to respond when Hermione interrupted.

"Come on guys! Let's finish this. We don't want Professor Snape to have a reason to dock points from Gryffindor" Hermione said. "You can get the puzzle later, it's on my bed," Ron said before he went back to his textbook. Harry grinned, and went back to studying the potion for the following day. An hour later, they had all finished. While Hermione pulled out some homework to finish for Herbology, Ron and Harry went up to their dorm.

"The puzzle is over there. You are more than welcome to keep it. I don't want it," Ron said, pointing to the box on his bed. Harry went over to pick it up, and then waited while Ron got out his chess set. They both went down the stairs and headed back to where Hermione was sitting. Ron started pulling out his chessmen, looking for someone to play. Harry put the box down on a nearby table, dumped out the pieces and started examining them. Each piece was made of wood and had weird carvings on them that extended beyond the edge of each piece. Some pieces also had a corner in it, so when it was put together, it made some kind of three dimensional shape. While Harry was examining the pieces, Hermione looked up from her homework and sighed.

"You really should get a head start on your homework Harry," she said, shaking her head. Harry smiled at her and said, "I know. But all we have tomorrow is Potions and then our free afternoon. I'll get started tomorrow, I promise. I just want a break from work." Hermione smiled softly at him. "Okay, but I will hold you to that promise!" she said, before going back to her work. Harry chuckled, then turned back to the puzzle and began trying to put it together.

* * *

The puzzle proved to be more difficult than Harry had originally thought. He spent that first night just trying to fit one piece with another, but he only managed to find one or two pieces that fit together. Deciding to go about this more systematically, he spent the next month organizing the pieces so that he had all the corners together and all the inside pieces together. There was next to no identifying marks on each piece, just the wood with the strange marks carved into them. After that he started to put together the border. Every time he connected two pieces, they could not come apart. It was like they were glued together. In between classes, homework Quidditch practices, and figuring out who Nicholas Flamel was, Harry put together the border by February. The border revealed that the puzzle pieces made a tower with a square base. At this point, he had to stop because Hagrid had gotten a dragon egg, and it was causing lots of problems. By mid November, the dragon had hatched, and was growing rapidly.

"Hagrid, please, think about this. What are dragons most known for?" Harry asked, patiently. Hagrid looked at him, nonplussed. "Why, they breathe fire, o' course!" exclaimed Hagrid. "Right. And what burns very well?" Hermione asked sharply. Hagrid looked confused. "Wood burns the best." Hagrid said. Harry, Ron, and Hermione looked around Hagrid's hut significantly. "And what is your house built out of, Hagrid?" Ron asked.

"Why're you guys askin' such weird questions?" Hagrid asked, confused. All three of them looked at each other, exasperated. "Hagrid, you have a baby dragon, that breathes fire, in a wooden house. You are just asking for your house to be burned down!" Harry exclaimed. Hagrid shook his head and looked over at Norbert. "It'll be fine! He ain't gonna hurt nuthin'. 'Es harmless!" Hagrid claimed.

Harry looked over Ron and Hermione. "We need to do something. He cannot keep that dragon," Harry said to them in an undertone. "I know. But what can we do? He can't just set Norbert free in the Forrest. That would be almost as bad!" exclaimed Ron. Hermione looked thoughtful. "What we need is to get him to someone who works with dragons."

Harry looked at Ron, and said "Charlie. Doesn't your brother work with dragons? Maybe he could take the dragon." Ron looked thoughtful and agreed. They said goodbye to Hagrid and went back up to the Common Room, being careful that nobody saw them. When they got up to the Common Room, the three of them put their heads together and wrote a letter to Ron's brother about Norbert, then sent it off with Hedwig.

* * *

Harry assumed that he would get some time to work on the puzzle after Norbert was picked up by Charlie's friends, and he was right, but not in the way he expected. After he and Hermione took Norbert to the top of the North Tower at Midnight, they were discovered by McGonagall and lost fifty points each. Harry, along with Hermione and Neville, were all shunned by Gryffindor. This did allow him some time to work on his puzzle, but at a cost. In the next three months, Harry began to fill in the middle pieces of the puzzle. The tower began to take shape, and Harry noticed that the pieces only covered a small portion of the thickness of the tower. In other words, it was hollow. In the mean time, Harry focused on his school work. At the beginning of June the End of Year exams began, and every First Year student needed to pass these tests to move on to Second Year. With only a few weeks left, most classes were reviewing for the End of Year tests.

"Today class, we are reviewing the basics that we learned at the beginning of the year," Professor McGonagall started. "How many different branches of Transfiguration are there?" McGonagall looked at the class, noticing that about half of the class had their hands raised. "Mr. Longbottom." Neville started, then slowly said, "Uh, 6, right?" McGonagall shook her head. "Close. Someone want to help him out? Mr. Potter?" Harry answered, "7." McGonagall smiled and nodded her head. "Correct! 2 points to Gryffindor. Now, there are 7, but can someone tell me what they are? On answer per person please. Miss Granger."

"Well, Inanimate to Inanimate Transfiguration."

"Good. Mr. Thomas."

"Oh, uh, Inanimate to Animate, right?" Dean asked, looking unsure.

"Correct. Miss Abbott, can you give me one more?"

"Animagi," Hannah Abbott said, confidently.

"Yes. How about you, Mr. Weasley?"

"Umm, Animate to Animate?" Ron said tentatively.

"Good. Miss Patil."

"Animate to Inanimate," Parvati said.

"Nice job. Two more. Mr. Finch-Fletchy."

"Human Transfiguration, I believe," Justin said.

"Yes. Last one. Anyone know? Miss Bones"

"Umm, isn't the last one Battle Transfiguration?" Susan answered.

"Good job everyone! 8 points to Gryffindor and 6 points to Hufflepuff. Now remember, this year focuses on Inanimate to Inanimate Transfiguration. This branch of Transfiguration is really broken into 7 different levels. We began this year with Transfigurations that were from objects of one size to an object of similar size. Remember turning the match to a needle at the start of the year?

"We then moved onto small objects to medium sized objects, followed by medium to large objects. Notice that we always went from a smaller to a bigger object. Your magic needed some practice before we could start transfigurations that lose size. After this, we transfigured objects of medium size to small size, and then finished with transfiguring large objects to medium sizes, which we completed just a few weeks ago.

"The last two levels, small objects into large objects and large objects into small objects are the beginning focus of Second Year. Now, there are three weeks until your exam, so we will practice each of the five levels. Today, we will be practicing similar size transfigurations. On the board is a list of transfigurations I want you to do." McGonagall waved her wand at the board, revealing a list. "Come to me to get your starting object. When you accomplish the change, bring it to me. When I have given my approval, you may move on to the next transfiguration." With that, the class got up, collected the first object, and got started.

* * *

Harry decided to hold off on finishing the puzzle in favor of studying for his End of Year exams. All of his classes were spending the last few weeks on review, so Harry, Ron, and Hermione were spending their time outside of class studying as well. None of them wanted to fail these tests and have to retake their First Year.

After his detention in the Forbidden Forrest a week before the exams, and the subsequent ache in his scar, Harry took some free time and worked on his puzzle. With the pain in his scar, Harry needed some time to rest his mind. While most wouldn't rest their mind with puzzles, Harry always had a fascination with puzzles of any kind, so this really wasn't strenuous. It actually relaxed him. This relaxation method, along with his diligent studying, helped Harry prepare for his exams. In fact, Harry felt confident going into the exams, and that confidence continued throughout the week. Harry felt that most of them were well within his ability. And so Harry left his last exam, feeling that he had done well.

"I don't know about you guys, but I felt those exams weren't as hard as I thought they would be," Harry said. Ron looked at him askance.

"What are you talking about? Those were difficult!" Ron exclaimed. Hermione rolled her eyes at Ron. "Well, if you would have studied a bit more like Harry and me, you might have felt more prepared." Hermione said. "I agree with you, Harry. They weren't that bad. Although, I wasn't too sure about that last question on –"

"No! We agreed that we wouldn't talk about the exams once we are done. Let's just go out to the lake and relax," Ron interrupted. Harry and Hermione agreed, and they started walking out of the castle and onto the grounds.

"I just wish I knew what my scar hurting means. It's been hurting ever since the detention in the Forrest last week. I think it means something's gonna happen. Soon," Harry said while rubbing his scar.

"We talked about this Harry. It's just stress over the exams," Hermione said. "I'm sure your headache will go away soon."

As they reached the lake and took a seat under a tree, Harry shook his head. "I don't think so. This is something more. I just got this weird feeling, like I'm forgetting something. Do you think that Snape might go after the Stone tonight?"

Ron, relaxing under a tree, chuckled. "Not with Dumbledore here. Anyway, he still doesn't know how to get past Fluffy, so-"

Harry interrupted him with a shout, "That's it!" Harry jumped up and started running over to Hagrid's cabin. "That's what I forgot. Fluffy!" he called over his shoulder.

Ron and Hermione looked at each other in confusion, and then got up and ran after him. "What do you mean? What about Fluffy?" Hermione shouted after Harry.

"Don't you think it's weird that Hagrid goes to the Hogs Head, a pub, and meets someone who has a dragon egg?" Harry asked.

"Yeah, but what does that have to do with Fluffy?" Ron asked, panting.

As they get close to Hagrid's home, Hagrid called out to them. "Hey! 'Ou guys want some tea?"

"Not right now Hagrid, I have a couple questions for you," Harry said quickly. "When you got your dragon egg, did the guy ask you any questions?"

"O' course! He wasn' jus' gonna hand off an egg like that! He asked meh abou' any other animals I took care of," Hagrid answered. "I told 'im abou' the thestrals, Fluffy, -"

"Did he seem interested in Fluffy?" Hermione asked anxiously.

"O' course. Who wouldn'? The trick is to know how to calm 'im. For Fluffy, all you do is play 'im some music and he goes right to sleep." Harry, Ron, and Hermione looked at each other, shocked. "I shoul' not 'ave said tha'. Hey! Where are you guys goin'?" Hagrid shouted, as Harry, Ron, and Hermione all ran off to the castle.

"I would bet you anything it was Snape in the pub. He knows how to get past Fluffy now," Harry said. "We need to tell Dumbledore."

"Yeah. Where is his office?" Ron asked. The three of them stopped in a First Floor corridor. They looked around in confusion, but then Professor McGonagall came around a corner.

"Professor! Do you know where Professor Dumbledore's office is?" Hermione asked. McGonagall looked over at them, and asked "What do you three need?"

Harry looked at the other two. "We need to talk to Professor Dumbledore. It's important."

"I promise you, you can talk to me," McGonagall said firmly.

"It's about the Sorcerer's Stone, Professor!" Ron shouted. McGonagall stopped, shocked.

"How do you know about that? It's supposed to be a secret!"

"Never mind that Professor. We need to talk to Dumbledore. We think Sn-, someone is going to steal it!" Harry claimed.

McGonagall collected herself. "Dumbledore is not here, he just got an urgent message from the Ministry. But I promise you, no one can steal the Stone. It is too well protected." With that, McGonagall left the three of them and left the corridor.

They looked at each other. "Its gonna happen tonight. Snape probably sent that message. He now knows all he needs to to steal the Stone, and he got Dumbledore out of the way," Harry said.

"So what do we do? Professor McGonagall doesn't believe us," Hermione said, scared. Harry sighed. "We are gonna have to do this on our own. We are gonna have to steal it first."

"We can't do that! Snape is so much older than us! We will never be able to get past the protections!" Ron exclaimed.

Harry looked up, angry. "We have to! There is no choice. I don't want Voldemort to take over the world. If it's a choice between that and trying to stop him, I will choose to stop him every time. You guys don't have to, but I will be going."

Ron and Hermione looked at Harry with a slight bit of awe. "We are with you Harry. When are we doing this?" Hermione said.

Harry smiled, looking grateful. "Tonight I think. We are gonna have to wait until everyone goes to sleep though. I will wait in the Common Room with my Cloak."

"Okay. I will look through my books, maybe I can find something that will help," Hermione said.

"Let's do this," Ron said.


	2. Chapter 2

**Chapter 2**

Harry, Ron, and Hermione spent the rest of the evening in the Common Room waiting for everyone else to go to sleep. Harry kept his Invisibility Cloak with him while he and Ron played countless rounds of chess. Hermione spent the time feverishly paging through her books, hoping to find something to help them. Finally, the last person went upstairs, calling a goodnight to the three of them.

Harry pulled out his cloak. "Hurry up. Get under here," Harry said, looking around. Ron and Hermione moved over to him, grouping together to try and fit underneath the cloak. Neville, who had been hidden from their view by the couch, stood up.

"Where are you guys going? You aren't going out are you?" Neville asked with a concerned look on his face. "You guys will lose Gryffindor points again. You can't go out!" Harry, Ron, and Hermione look at each other.

"Move out of the way Neville. We need to do this. It's important," Harry said. Neville shook his head. "You can't do this. I… I'll fight you!" Neville said, putting up his fists. Ron shook his head, chuckling.

"Put your fists down Neville, you don't want to fight us. Just let us pass," Ron said. Neville shook his head and stood his ground. Hermione took out her wand. "Please Neville, let us go." Neville saw her wand, whimpered, but stood his ground.

"I don't want to do this, Neville, but we need to go. _Petrifi-_ " Hermione began, before Harry cut her off.

"Wait!" Harry said, pushing her wand down. "I think he could help us. Didn't Hagrid say Professor Sprout helped defend the Stone?" Harry asked. Hermione and Ron looked at each other, before Ron answered. "Yeah. So?"

"Well, Neville can help us," Harry explained. "He knows more about plants than a lot of Third Years, or even Fourth Years. Right Neville?" Harry asked. Neville put his fists down, looking confused. "Well, I don't know about being better then Third or Fourth Years, but I am good at Herbology. I like plants," Neville said, humbly.

Harry, Ron, and Hermione exchanged glances with each other. Ron and Hermione shrugged, indicating it was up to Harry. Harry looked over at Neville. "Remember that three-headed dog we ran into earlier this year?" Harry asked Neville. Neville nodded. "Well, Hermione noticed that the dog was standing on a trapdoor. We found out that underneath the trapdoor is the Sorcerer's Stone," Harry said. Neville looked confused.

"The Sorcerer's Stone is a stone that can turn anything into gold, as well as make the Elixir of Life, which grants the drinker eternal life," Hermione jumped in. Neville looked at the three of them in shock. "Wow. That is pretty incredible. But what does that have to do with you guys leaving tonight?" Neville asked.

"Well, we found out that someone is trying to steal it. We think Snape is gonna steal it tonight because Dumbledore is out of the castle," Ron explained. Neville stared at them. "…How do you even know this?" Neville asked. Harry chuckled. "A lot of chance. Anyway, we tried to tell McGonagall, but she didn't believe us, so we are gonna get to it first. But we could use your help. So, what do you say?" Harry asked, looking at Neville seriously.

Neville gulped, and then shook himself. "If you think I can help, I'm in," Neville said softly. Harry, Ron, and Hermione looked at each other, smiling. "Okay. Come over here. I have an Invisibility Cloak. Get under it with us so we can go," Harry said. Neville looked at Harry in awe as he walked over. "Seriously?"Neville breathed out. Ron shook his head, chuckling.

* * *

It was a tight squeeze, but all four of them were just barely able to hide themselves with the cloak. As they walked out of the Common Room, the Fat Lady looked around, confused. Ron stifled a laugh. Hermione poked him in the side. "Be quiet!" Hermione hissed. Ron rolled his eyes as they continued to move toward the Grand Staircase. They moved quietly, but they encountered no one as they moved down the staircase to the third floor. As they got to the third floor, they stopped. In front of them was Peeves, messing with a suit of armor. He, hearing them move, stopped, looking over in their area.. "Who's there? Know you're there, even if I can't see you. Are you ghoulie or ghostie or wee student beastie?" Peeves called out, cackling. Neville looked over at Harry. "What are we gonna do? We can't just walk past him," Neville cried, quietly. Harry had an idea.

"The Bloody Baron has his own reasons for being invisible," Harry said, in a hoarse voice. Peeves fell over in shock, then collected himself. "I'm sorry, Mr. Baron sir. I didn't see you – of course I didn't, you're invisible. Forgive Peeves his little joke, sir."

"On one condition: Stay away from here tonight. I have business."

"Of course. Good luck on your business, Baron," Peeves said, before zooming off. Ron, Hermione, and Neville looked at Harry. "Brilliant!" Ron whispered. A couple seconds later, they made it to the third floor corridor, and the door was ajar.

They took off the cloak, and Harry stuffed it into his pocket, looking at the door. "Snape is already here. This is your last shot guys. You can go back if-"

"We aren't going anywhere, so stop asking," Ron said. Hermione and Neville nodded their heads in agreement.

* * *

Harry pushed the door open and looked into the room. Fluffy was sleeping in the center, with his paws over the trap door. "Look!" Hermione said, pointing to the corner. There was a harp that was playing music. "Snape must have left that. Hopefully it doesn't stop anytime soon," Harry said.

Neville looked at them in confusion. "Why do we want it to continue playing?" Neville asked. Hermione answered, "Music puts Fluffy to sleep." Neville looked at her oddly. "Fluffy?"

"Don't ask. Hagrid named it," Ron said, shaking his head. Harry, who had been looking at Fluffy's gigantic paws, turned to the three of them. "Any ideas on how to move Fluffy out of the way? I was thinking maybe a levitation charm," Harry said. Hermione and Neville shrugged and took out their wands.

"Worth a try," Hermione said. She and Neville lifted their wands, and a _Wingardium Leviosa_ later, Fluffy's paw has hovering. "Move it off the door guys," Ron said. As they were moving the paws to the side, the harp suddenly stopped playing. Hermione and Neville held their wands still and looked at each other, faces white. Fluffy started to snort and growl.

"It's waking up!" Ron shouted. Harry pulled a wooden flute out of his pocket, put it to his lips, and started to blow. As soon as he started playing, Fluffy went back to sleep. Hermione and Neville sighed, relieved. "Good thing you had that Harry," Ron remarked, also relieved. Hermione and Neville finished moving Fluffy's paws, revealing the trap door. Hermione walked over and opened the door, revealing a shaft going deep into the castle.

Harry waved his hand, getting the attention of the other three. He pointed at himself, then the hole. "You wanna go first?" Ron asked. Harry nodded. "Okay, hand your flute to Hermione." Harry moved over to Hermione, and then quickly handed her the flute. Fluffy started to wake up, but as soon as Hermione started playing, went right back to sleep.

Harry moved over to the opened trap door, looking into the darkness. "I can't see anything down there." Harry lowered himself down so that he was hanging on to the edge of the trap door. "After I go, wait until I call up to you. Once you hear me, Neville, you're next. Then Ron, and finally Hermione," Harry said. He looked down. "Well, here's hoping something is at the bottom." Harry let go, and fell down the hole.

After a few seconds, Harry landed on something soft. "Well, that's convenient," Harry muttered. He looked up, barely able to see the door opening. "It's okay, there's something to break your fall. Your turn Neville!" Harry called up. After a couple seconds, Neville landed next to him. Neville looked around, and then got an alarmed look on his face. "Harry, this is Devil's Snare! We need to get away!" Neville shouted, and then struggled to move off of the plant. Harry looked down, and saw vines curling up around his legs. As he started to pull his legs out of the grasp of the vines, Ron came hurtling down, landing on the plant.

"Watch out Ron, it's Devils Snare! Get off quickly!" Neville shouted. Ron, confused, looked at the plant. Harry, who had gotten away from the plant, was trying to keep away from the vines. The Devils Snare was trying to entrap him, even though he wasn't on top of it anymore.

Abruptly, Hermione landed on the plant next to Ron. "Get off Hermione. It's Devils Snare!" Neville told her. Hermione instantly got up off the plant and moved to the side of the room, where the plant didn't reach. In the mean time, Ron was truly stuck. The vines had a hold of his legs and wouldn't allow him to get away.

"Help me guys! I can't get out!" Ron panicked, flailing his arms. "Quickly Neville, how do we get rid of it?" Harry asked. "Umm, it doesn't like heat or light, but fire is its worst enemy," Neville answered. Immediately, Harry pulled out his wand and shouted, " _Incendio!_ " Flames shot out of his wand and hit the Devil's Snare. The plant let out a shriek, and shriveled up, retreating into the corner. Ron picked himself up.

"Thanks Neville. I owe you one," Ron said, looking at Neville. Neville smiled. "No problem mate." Hermione looked down the hallway. "I wonder what will be next."

"Well, that was definitely Sprout's protection. Maybe Quirrell's?" Harry said, shrugging. Neville looked at Harry, confused. "What are you guys talking about?" Harry, Ron, and Hermione looked at Neville, confused themselves.

"That's right, I forgot to mention before. The professors helped protect the Stone. I will explain as we move on. We need to hurry and get there before Snape," Harry said, moving toward the corridor.

* * *

When they got to the door at the end of the hallway, Harry paused. "Do you guys hear that?" Harry asked. They all cocked their heads, listening. "Yeah, I hear something. It sounds like…" Hermione said, pausing. "It almost sounds like birds," Neville said, surprised. Hermione nodded.

"Well, that's weird," Ron said. "Should we go in, or should we wait?" Harry thought for a second. "Well, until we know what we're dealing with, we can't figure out how to get past it, so I think we should go in," Harry said. He moved up to the door, and tried to open it. It was locked. Harry went to reach for his wand, but Hermione beat him to it. " _Alohamora,_ " Hermione said, causing the door to unlatch. Harry smiled over at her, then pushed the door open and walked into the room.

The room opened up and was lightly glowing. The air was filled with little glittering things that moved around. Harry stared up at the glittering ojects while everyone else came into the room to stand by him. "What are those?" Ron asked. "They almost look like birds" Harry shook his head. "No, those are keys. They have wings on them." Hermione shook her head smiling. "I still don't understand how you see so well with how bad your eyes are." They all chuckled. Neville looked across the room at the other door, then back up at the keys.

"Do you think they will attack us if we cross the room?" Neville asked slowly. Harry considered it for a minute, then said "No way to know without trying." With that, Harry covered his head with his arms, and ran across the room. They keys didn't even try to attack, so the rest of them followed him, albeit walking, not running. When they got to the other side of the room, Harry was examining the door, particularly the keyhole. Hermione pulled out her wand and went to unlock the door, but Harry stopped her.

"Don't bother Hermione. It is unlikely that will work. We need to find the key up there and use it to unlock the door," Harry said, sure of his words. Ron looked at him. "Are you sure? How do you know?" he asked. Harry pointed over to the corner. "Why else would there be brooms and keys in the air?" They looked over where Harry was pointing. There were three brooms, each of them looking old, but maintained. As they walked over, Harry pointed at himself and Ron. "I know there are three brooms, but it should probably be Ron and I who go up," Harry said. Hermione and Neville nodded, relieved. "You two should keep the keys off of us. I would bet that they will start to attack us either when we get on the brooms, or when we find the key. Remember that spell that throws things away from you?" Harry asked.

"Yeah, the Flipendo spell," Hermione explained. Harry nodded. "Yeah, use that spell." Ron looked over at Harry.

"Did you get a look at the keyhole?" he asked. "Yeah," Harry said. "It should be an old fashioned silver one." Harry and Ron grabbed the brooms and mounted them. "If they attack right away, I will lead them around and you are gonna have to find the key. If they don't attack right away, I will go above, you go below. Call out when you find the key, okay?" Ron nodded, and they pushed off, going up in the air. The keys didn't attack, they just kept moving around in the air. Harry flew above the keys and started weaving around, looking for the key, almost like he was playing Quidditch.

"Ron, do you see it?" Harry called down. "Nope, not yet. You?" Ron asked. Harry shook his head. "Nope, not-. Wait! There it is!" Harry exclaimed. He took off, diving down into the keys. As he approached the old silver key, he noticed that one of the wings was kind of crumpled, like it had been caught before. "This is it! Snape already caught this!" Harry called out. "Hermione and Neville, be ready to repel the keys!" Harry reached out and grabbed the key. As soon as he did so, he dove straight down. At the same time, they keys started attacking him. " _Flipendo_!" Hermione and Neville called out. The spell pushed the keys out of the way as Harry and Ron landed near the door, dropping their brooms. "Guys get over here. Keep up the spell. We are almost out!" Harry yelled. He put the key in the door, turning it and opening the door. With one last " _Flipendo_!" by Hermione and Neville, the four of them ran through the door and shut it behind them.

"Whew. That was close. Nice job guys!" Ron said, high-fiving everyone. "Let's go," Harry said, smiling. They started off down the hallway.

* * *

"Who do you think is next?" Neville asked, as they got to the door at the end of the hallway. "Well, we had Sprout and Flitwick. I would think Snape or McGonagall would be next. If you keep with the theme of Heads first," Hermione said, thinking. "I bet it's McGonagall," Ron said, grinning. Harry laughed. "Well, let's check. Open the door Ron," Harry said.

Ron stepped forward and pushed the door open. "Well, that was anti-climactic. You can't see anything," Ron said. Harry stepped forward and the lights came on. Across the room were 16 white marble statues in two rows of 8. Near them were 16 black marble statues, again in two rows of 8. All of them stepped forward, in awe. Almost as one, Harry, Hermione, and Neville looked at Ron. He smiled. "It's a chessboard," Ron whispered. He looked over at the others. "I hope you guys don't mind, but you aren't very good at chess, and I am pretty good…" Ron said, trailing off.

"Go ahead Ron. You are the expert here. What do we do?" Hermione asked. Ron stepped forward, looking at the King. "Do we have to take the place of one of you?" Ron asked. The King turned to Ron, bowing his head. Ron looked over at the rest. "Okay," he said, thinking hard. "Harry, take the place of the King side bishop. Neville, the King side Rook. Hermione, take the place of the King. I will be the King side Knight." As he was talking, the pieces he called out stepped off the board and Harry, Ron, Hermione, and Neville took their places.

Almost to himself, Ron muttered "Okay, white should go first." As if by his command, a white pawn moved forward two spaces, causing a slight grin to appear on Ron's face. "Here we go."

Ron played a fairly conservative game, except for when he noticed that Harry or Neville were in danger of being taken. At that point, he would save them by taking out the attacking white pieces, then go back to playing cautiously.

About ten minutes later, each side was down to seven or eight pieces left on the board. Ron looked around, noticing who was left on both sides. Harry, who had also been looking at the board, cried out. "No Ron! We can do something else!" Ron shook his head. "No Harry. We have two options. Either I can sacrifice you and Neville, or I can sacrifice myself and you can checkmate the King. I think it's obvious," Ron said, calmly. Neville shook his head. Hermione, almost to tears, cried out, "No Ron! There is another way!"

"Do you guys want to stop Snape or not? This is the best way. Harry, when they take me, go over to the left 4 spaces to check mate the King," Ron dictated. With that, he moved one up and two to the right. The white rook turned to him, moved forward one space, reached out, and bashed Ron on his head, knocking him out. Hermione screamed, and went to take a step forward. "Stop Hermione!" Harry and Neville said at the same time. "We can't. Not until we finish the game," Harry said. He moved to the left four spaces, calling out checkmate. The white King threw its crown down.

Harry, Hermione, and Neville ran over to Ron. Hermione knelt down, checking Ron's pulse. "He still has a pulse. He just looks knocked out," Hermione said, relieved. "We should still get him out. He might have a concussion," Neville said, shaking. Harry nodded his head. "I agree. Neville, you get him out of the room. Get a broom from the key room and fly up past Fluffy. Get him to Madam Pomfrey. Hermione and I will go on," Harry said. Neville nodded, and knelt down to pick up Ron. Harry and Hermione stood up, and walked forward, through the door and into the hallway.

* * *

"Okay Hermione, only Quirrell and Snape left. We can do this," Harry said, looking at her. She smiled back at Harry. "Let's do this." At the end of the hallway, they pushed open the door, and immediately covered their noses. There was a foul stench in the air, like someone hadn't showered in months combined with dead animals. The smell was coming from an unconscious troll lying on the ground.

"Merlin! That is terrible! This might be worse than the one from Halloween," Harry said while plugging his nose. Hermione nodded. "Definitely. At least this one is knocked out already," Hermione said, sighing in relief. Harry looked at Hermione slowly. "Uh, I don't think it's knocked out Hermione. I think Snape killed it."

"Really?" Hermione said, shocked. Harry nodded. "Let's go. I don't know if I can stand the smell anymore." Harry and Hermione moved through the room, trying not to look at the troll any more than they had to. Once they crossed the room, they opened the door that lead into the hallway. As soon as the door closed, the stench cleared immediately. Hermione sighed in relief. Harry chuckled, then they started walking down the hallway.

"Well, that was obviously Quirrell. All that leaves is Snape," Hermione said, looking over at Harry. He had a weird look on his face. "What's up?" Hermione asked him.

"Well, do you think it's a bit odd that Quirrell's protection is a troll and he was the one that first noticed the troll at Halloween? Do you think it might have been Quirrell that let it in?" Harry questioned, thinking out loud. Hermione had a thoughtful look on her face. "Well, it's certainly a weird coincidence, but could Quirrell do that? I just don't think so," Hermione said.

"Maybe…" Harry said, thinking. Then they reached the door at the end of the hallway, opened it, and went through. Suddenly, purple flames sprang up behind them, blocking the way back. At the same time, black flames appeared in the doorway across the room. Harry and Hermione sprang forward, shocked.

In the center of the room was a table with a row of seven bottles. Each bottle was a different size and contained a liquid of differing colors. Harry and Hermione walked forward to the table, noticing that there was a scroll on the table as well. Hermione picked it up to read, with Harry reading over her shoulder:

 _Danger lies before you, while safety lies behind,_

 _Two of us will help you, whichever you would find,_

 _One among us seven will let you move ahead,_

 _Another will transport the drinker back instead,_

 _Two among our number hold only nettle wine,_

 _Three of us are killers, waiting hidden in line._

 _Choose, unless you wish to stay here for evermore,_

 _To help your choice, we give you these clues four:_

 _First, however slyly the poison tries to hide_

 _You will always find some on nettle wine's left side;_

 _Second, different are those who stand at either end,_

 _But if you would move onwards neither is your friend;_

 _Third, as you see clearly, all are different size,_

 _Neither dwarf nor giant holds death in their insides;_

 _Fourth, the second left and the second right_

 _Are twins once you taste them, though different at first sight._

Hermione looked at Harry, grinning. "This is great! It's not magic at all. It's logic!" Hermione said. "Most wizards are terrible at logic. I like this protection." Harry nodded thinking. "Well, it is a bit above my head. But one thing I do understand from this is that the left-most bottle is not wine. That's about all I can get though," Harry said, looking over at Hermione. She was beaming at him. "Good job Harry! Yes, that's right! Keep thinking. I will see if I can figure it out too. Let me know if you come up with anything," Hermione said. She then turned back to the paper, muttering to herself.

Harry, smiling to himself, took a couple steps away, and sat down to think. He had found, while working on his puzzle, that he thought better when he took a step away and shut his eyes to think. Five to ten minutes later, Hermione looked up. "I've got it!" Hermione exclaimed. Harry opened his eyes, stood up and walked back to the table.

"Before I tell you which one is which, did you figure anything else out?" Hermione asked. Harry chuckled, then said, "Well, going forward is not the left either, which leaves just poison or going backwards as the left bottle. Because the second left and second right are "twins once you taste them", I figured that they are probably wine, which makes the left one poison. But that is as far as I got," Harry said, looking a little embarrassed. Hermione looked a bit surprised. "That's great Harry! Don't feel embarrassed by that. You were almost there," Hermione said smiling at Harry. Harry smiled back at Hermione. "Thank you."

"Now, the bottles that we want. The small one, third from the left, is the one that will take us forward. The one on the right is the one that will take us back," Hermione said, pointing to the bottles in question. Harry looked at them. "Well, there isn't much left in the forward bottle. Looks like only enough for one mouthful. So here is what we should do. You take the back bottle, meet up with Ron and Neville, and send a letter to Dumbledore," Harry began. Hermione started to interrupt, but Harry kept going. "No listen. I am no match for Snape. I may be able to hold him off for a bit, but he is an adult, and I am not. So I am gonna need Dumbledore," Harry finished.

Hermione rushed forward and gave Harry a hug. "You are such a good wizard Harry," Hermione said, her voice muffled in Harry's shoulder. Harry looked down. "Not really. You are much better than I am," Harry mumbled, bashful. Hermione shook her head. "I am smart, sure. But there is more to being a good wizard than that. You have courage, heart, determination. Plus, you are smarter than you give yourself credit for. You are a good wizard Harry," Hermione said firmly.

Harry slowly smiled. "Thanks Hermione. That means a lot." He then reached out for the forward bottle. "I will go first. Just in case," Harry said, winking at Hermione. He swallowed the potion, then shivered. "Wow, that's cold," Harry said. "Once I'm through, go back quickly. Get Dumbledore." With that Harry stepped through the black fire. When he got to the other side, he saw someone. And while it wasn't Snape, Harry found that he was not surprised.

"Quirrell."

* * *

 **Author's Note**

 _First, I have to say thank you! This story already has about 100 followers, which is amazing to me! Thank you guys so much! I'm glad that this story has such a following so soon._

 _Second, I want to talk a bit about my update schedule. I do not have an abundance of time, so my updates will not be super quick. In fact, I am anticipating a new chapter once every month. My plan is to put up the new chapter at the first of every month. I will endeavor to get ahead of that schedule so that I can update sooner, but we will see. Real life gets in the way quite often._

 _Third, if it isn't obvious by now, this is fanfiction, and so everything you recognize in this story belongs to Jo Rowling, not me._

 _Last, please review! Tell me what you think of my story!_


	3. Chapter 3

**Chapter 3**

"Quirrell," Harry said, staring into the room he found himself in. The room was roughly rectangular with tiered levels and a sunken center. In the center was Professor Quirrell, standing in front of a mirror. Quirrell, hearing Harry speak, turned around.

"Why do you not sound surprised?" Quirrell asked, curious. Quirrell didn't speak with his usual stutter. Instead, his voice was sharp and cold. "I thought Snape was trying to steal the Stone for a long time, but seeing the troll back there had me wondering about the one at Halloween. That was you! You almost killed us!" Harry said, boldly. Quirrell chuckled darkly. "Almost. I was hoping the troll would kill you, even if it was unlikely. I have a special affinity for trolls you see. But Severus was on to me from that moment on. I couldn't get the Stone that day. But no matter, I will get it today. And with no interruptions from you, I might add."

With one wave of Quirrell's wand, he bound Harry with ropes. Another wave floated him down to the center of the room. Quirrell left him propped up against the wall and turned back to the mirror. Now that he was close, Harry gazed at the mirror with a jolt of recognition. It was the mirror of Erised. Harry knew that he needed to get out of the ropes and stop Quirrell, but he needed to distract Quirrell in the meantime. "I really thought it would have been Snape. He tried to kill me-" Harry began.

Quirrell interrupted him. "No, I tried to kill you. Your friend, Granger, pushed me over as she ran by to set fire to Severus' robes. As amusing as that was, she broke my eye contact, thereby saving your life. I would have killed you sooner if not for Severus trying to save your life."

Harry was shocked. "What?" he asked. "But Snape hates me!" Quirrell chuckled. "Oh yes. He does hate you. He went to school with your father you know. They absolutely loathed each other. But not enough to want you dead it seems. He was muttering the counter-curse the entire time. It was so convenient to me, having Snape around. With him around, nobody would suspect p-p-poor, st-stuttering, P-P-P-Professor Quirrell," Quirrell said with a satisfied smirk on his face. "Now stop talking, I need to study this mirror." Quirrell began examining it, going around to the back.

"But someone was on to you, right? I heard you sobbing in a classroom the other day," Harry asked, wanting to stall Quirrell some more. Quirrell appeared around the corner, looking pale. "That was my master, the Dark Lord. Sometimes it is hard to do what he asks…" Quirrell said, trailing off. Harry immediately went pale. "Voldemort was there that day?" Harry asked, shocked.

Quirrell reached up and patted his turban. "He is always with me. Now be quiet!" Quirrell ordered. He looked into the mirror greedily. "I see myself presenting my master with the stone. But where is it?" Quirrell muttered to himself.

All I want in the world is to get the stone before Quirrell does, Harry thought furiously. Maybe if I look in it I will see where the Stone is located. Harry inched over, so that he could look into the mirror, but he was bound too tightly to move quietly.

While he was trying to move over, Quirrell was still trying to figure out the mirror. "Should I break the glass? Master, help me! What should I do?" Quirrell asked seemingly no one. "Use the boy," a voice said, coming out of nowhere. Harry paused, scared. Quirrell turned around, waved his wand, removed the ropes from Harry, and dragged Harry over in front of the mirror. "What do you see?" Quirrell said harshly. "And don't even think about lying. He will know!"

Harry looked into the mirror and saw himself, a scared, scruffy boy. But then his reflection smiled, reached into his pocket, and took out a ruby red stone. He held it out to Harry, then put it back into his pocket. As he did so, Harry felt something heavy in his pocket. Harry looked at the mirror, shocked. Did it just-, Harry thought. "What do you see boy?" Quirrell asked forcefully. Harry, trying to come up with a lie, thought of what he saw the last time. Focusing on his parents, he said, "I see my parents. They are standing behind me." Quirrell shoved Harry out of the way. "Useless. I will do this myself."

On the ground, Harry pulled himself up, about to make a break for the doorway. But as he was about to run, Harry heard a voice. "The boy lies. His shields are good for one so young, but he is nothing compared to me." Quirrell spun around, furious. "What did you see?" Quirrell yelled, advancing on Harry. Harry braced himself, about to run again, but found himself frozen to the spot as he heard the voice one more time.

"Let me see the boy," the voice said. Quirrell reached up to his turban. "But master, you are not strong enough," Quirrell said. "I am strong enough for this." Quirrell unraveled his turban, turning around as he did. Harry stared at the back of Quirrell's head, scared. Where there should have been bare skin, there was another face. Staring out of the back of Quirrell's head were two red eyes and slits for a nose. It was the face of Lord Voldemort.

"Look at what I have become. Once the greatest wizard in the world, now reduced to possessing bodies in order to keep myself alive. But there is a way to give myself a body. And it resides in your pocket. Give me the Stone!" Voldemort shouted. Harry stumbled backwards, suddenly able to move, fell to the ground.

"Don't be a fool," Voldemort hissed. "Better to join me than die, or you will meet the same end as your parents; on your knees begging me for mercy." Harry looked up furious. Voldemort chuckled. "Ah, how touching. Such bravery. Your parents had that in spades Harry. I killed your father first. He put up a good fight, but he fell, as all do before me. But your mother didn't need to die. She died protecting you. Don't let her die in vain and give me the Stone," Voldemort coaxed.

Harry sprang to his feet. "NEVER!" he shouted, then turned and ran to the door. Behind him, he heard, "SIEZE HIM," and heard Quirrell running after him. Quirrell grabbed Harry by the arm, pulling him back and to the ground. Immediately, Harry's head burst into pain, centered on his scar. Harry yelled out and started to struggle, trying to break free. Quirrell screamed and let go of Harry. Right before Harry's eyes, Quirrell's hand broke out in blisters. "Master, my hand! What is happening?" Quirrell asked, in pain.

"Ignore it! Kill him!" Voldemort cried. Quirrell reached into his robes for his wand. Harry, thinking desperately, jumped at Quirrell, grabbing both his arms. As he did so, Harry's head erupted into pain. Quirrell cried out in agony, shaking Harry off. "Kill him!" Voldemort bellowed. Harry watched Quirrell's arms break out in blisters again. My touch causes him pain, Harry thought. While his touch makes my head hurt, this might be my chance. Determined, Harry grabbed Quirrell's face, hoping to stop him. The pain in Harry's head began again, stronger than ever. But Quirrell was in as much pain, if not more.

His face began to blister underneath Harry's hands. Quirrell flung himself around, trying to throw Harry off. Harry wrapped his legs around Quirrell's arms, keeping him from reaching his wand. The pain in Harry's head was building, to the point that his vision began to black out. "Kill him! Kill him!" Voldemort kept screaming. Harry felt himself pulled off of Quirrell and knew that he had lost. He fell backwards and passed out.

* * *

Harry was dreaming. He was playing Quidditch and the Snitch was right in front of him. He tried to reach out to grab it, but his arms were too heavy. Harry blinked, and the Snitch was gone. Instead, he was reaching for a pair of glasses. He blinked again, and woke to see Professor Dumbledore, smiling down at him. "Welcome back, Harry. You gave us quite a scare there," Professor Dumbledore said. Harry stared back up at him, confused. Then, remembering, he sat bolt upright.

"Professor! Quirrell, the Stone…Voldemort…" Harry said, disjointed. Dumbledore put a hand on Harry's shoulder, trying to comfort him. Don't worry my boy. Quirrell does not have the Stone. I assure you, all is well." Harry laid back down, looking around the room. He was in the Hospital Wing and was surrounded by mountains of candy. Dumbledore, noticing that Harry was looking at the candy, chuckled. "A few tokens from your friends and admirers. Naturally, since it was a secret, the whole school already knows what happened between you and Professor Quirrell. I believe it was your friends Messer's Weasley that tried to send you a toilet seat, but Madam Pomfrey confiscated it. I don't believe she thought it to be quite hygienic enough." Harry smiled to himself.

"How long have I been out?" Harry asked. "Around three days. Your friends, Ms. Granger, Mr. Longbottom, and Mr. Weasley have been quite worried. They will be happy to know that you are awake," Dumbledore answered, while he was looking around in Harry's candy.

"Sir, what happened to the Stone?" Harry asked. Dumbledore looked up. "I see that you are not distracted. Very well, the Stone. Quirrell never managed to get it. Although you were doing a very good job of keeping it away from him, if I say so myself."

"So you got Hermione's letter?" Harry asked. Dumbledore shook his head. "We must have crossed in midair. As soon as I got to the Ministry, I had a feeling that I was needed here. And if there is one thing I have learned in my years, it is to listen to my intuition," Dumbledore said with a smile. "I got there in time to pull you off of Quirrell."

"It's a good thing you got here when you did. I don't know if I could have kept him away from the Stone any longer," Harry said. "You misunderstand me Harry. You almost died. I got there in time to save you, not to save the Stone.. For a moment there, I thought I wasn't," Dumbledore said, looking away. "Thankfully I was. As for the Stone, it was destroyed," Dumbledore said, looking grave.

Harry was shocked. "But Sir! Doesn't that mean Flamel and his wife will die?" Dumbledore looked sad. "Yes, Nicholas and Perenelle will die. We talked, and he believes that it is for the best. They have enough Elixir to set their affairs in order, then they will die. To one as old as they, death is but the next great adventure. They are ready," Dumbledore said, smiling softly.

Harry sat back, thinking. Dumbledore, waiting for Harry to ask his next question, hummed softly, again looking through Harry's candy. "Sir, since the Stone is destroyed, won't Volde- I mean, You-Know-Who-" Harry started to say, before Dumbledore interrupted him. "Call him Voldemort Harry. Fear of a name increases fear of the thing itself," Dumbledore said. Harry nodded slowly. "Okay, won't Voldemort find some other way to come back? He is going to try again, isn't he?"

Dumbledore nodded, slowly. "Yes, he is likely to attempt to gain a body again. Thankfully you were there this time. Maybe someone else will be there next time, and the time after, and again. If this happens, maybe he won't ever come back. We can only hope."

Harry nodded. "Sir, I have some questions. If you can, I'd like to know the truth," Harry said, hopefully. Dumbledore sighed. "The truth. Truth is a very powerful thing Harry. I may not answer your questions fully, but I will not, of course, lie."

"Okay. Voldemort, down in the dungeons, said that he didn't need to kill my mother. Why did he want to kill me? What is so special about me?" Harry asked, looking down. Dumbledore sighed. "That is a complicated question Harry. For now, suffice it to say that there is something special about you, something powerful," Dumbledore said. Harry looked up at Dumbledore, surprised. "Me? I'm not all that special. I'm certainly not powerful," Harry said. Dumbledore smiled gently. "Don't sell yourself short Harry. It is not anyone who can take on a full grown adult and come out the better for it. Especially when said adult is Voldemort"

Harry looked away, not knowing what to think. "Okay, why couldn't Quirrell touch me?" Dumbledore smiled at that question. "Ah Harry, that one I can answer. When your mother died for you, she left a mark on you," Dumbledore began. Harry, listening, reached his hand up to his scar. Shaking his head, Dumbledore continued, "No, not a visible mark. To be loved so completely leaves a protection even after the one who loves us is gone. Voldemort, who has never known love, doesn't, and won't, understand this. Quirrell, who let Voldemort into his body and soul, couldn't bear to touch someone marked by such love. It is agony, physically, to touch someone like that," Dumbledore said gently. At that, Dumbledore looked away for a moment, giving Harry a chance to collect himself.

Harry, whose eyes had teared up hearing about his mother's love, dried his eyes on his bedsheet. When he found his voice again, he asked, "Do you know who sent me the Invisibility Cloak?"

"I have to confess, that was me. Your father left it in my possession when he died. I thought it best to return it to you. Your father tended to use it to sneak out to the kitchens, along with other, shall we say, less than innocent adventures. I hope you use it for better purposes," Dumbledore said, eyes twinkling. Harry looked at him with wide eyes. "Really?" Harry breathed out. "That cloak was my dad's?" Dumbledore smiled gently, nodding. "Wow," Harry said softly.

After a minute, Harry looked back up at Dumbledore. "There is something else, Sir," Harry said. Dumbledore gestured for Harry to continue. "Quirrell said Snape" Harry began. "Professor Snape, Harry," Dumbledore chided. Harry nodded. "Right, Quirrell said Professor Snape hates me because he hated my father. Is that true?"

Dumbledore sighed. "They did rather abhor each other, not unlike you and Mr. Malfoy. But then your father did something that Severus could never forgive." Harry looked confused. "What did he do?" Harry asked. "Your father saved Severus' life, at great risk to his own." Harry looked up at Professor Dumbledore, shocked. "What? He did?"

Dumbledore smiled. "He did. Severus does not like owing anyone, which is probably why he spent so much time this year trying to keep you safe. I believe he was trying to pay off his debt through you. He wanted to go back to hating your father's memory in peace." Harry tried to understand, but is made his head hurt, so he stopped.

"Thank you Sir. I just have one more," Harry said. "Just one more? Well, go ahead then," Dumbledore said. "Well, I was wondering how I got the Stone out of the mirror," Harry asked. Dumbledore grinned down at him, looking proud. "I was hoping you would ask me that. It is one of my best ideas. And that is saying something, if you don't mind the brief arrogance. The only way you could get the Stone is if you weren't going to use it. Otherwise you would just see yourself using it in the mirror. And knowing what the Stone does, it takes a special person to want it, but not to use it," Dumbledore said, smiling at Harry. Harry looked down, smiling.

"Now, better topics. I'm sure you noticed me looking through your collection of candy. I have quite a sweet tooth. If you don't mind, could I have some of your candy?" Dumbledore asked, chuckling. Harry nodded. "Excellent. What about a Bertie Bott's Bean? When I was younger, I had the misfortune of eating a vomit-flavored one, and since then, I have been rather reluctant to eat one. But I think a toffee flavored one will work well," Dumbledore said, picking out a Bertie Bott's Every Flavored Bean. Dumbledore bit into it, then spit it out quick. "Well, that was disgusting. Earwax," Dumbledore said with a disgusted look on his face. Harry looked at him, then burst out laughing. Dumbledore joined in heartily.

* * *

Over the next few days, Harry had no shortage of visitors. He had many people that he didn't even know come in and wish him a speedy recovery. Ron, Hermione, and Neville came in as well. Harry told them everything that happened down in the dungeons. While nothing was ever said, it was now assumed that what had been a trio of friends was now a quartet. Every time Ron and Hermione visited, Neville came as well.

Hagrid also came by, trying to apologize for his part in telling Quirrell about Fluffy. He felt so bad that he gave Harry a present. "What is it Hagrid?" Harry asked, turning over the badly wrapped package. Hagrid smiled, his beady eyes twinkling. "I knew that you don't have much from your parents, so I sent owls out to people who might have pictures of them. I think I even have a few of baby you in there…" Hagrid said, drifting off. Harry's eyes began to water. He looked up at Hagrid, unable to speak. Hagrid smiled gently at Harry, patted him on the arm, and left the Hospital Wing. Harry spent the next few days looking through each picture, memorizing his parents' faces.

The last day of term, Harry, who had just been let out of the Hospital Wing, was up in his dorm packing. He made sure that the photo album was carefully wrapped up, and looked around his bed for anything he missed. On the nightstand next to his bed, Harry noticed the puzzle that he had been working on. I almost forgot about that, Harry thought. Hagrid's gift had practically driven the puzzle from his mind. Since the half completed tower wouldn't fall apart, he placed that in his trunk. He also wrapped up the pieces and placed them next to the puzzle. Finally finished with his packing, he went down to the Common Room to head down to the feast with his friends.

Harry, Ron, Hermione, and Neville walked into the Great Hall which was decked out in Slytherin green and silver. Back behind the Head Table were the points that each House had. Gryffindor had 312, Hufflepuff had 352, Ravenclaw had 426, and finally, Slytherin had 472. Harry, who had been looking at the points, looked over at Hermione, shocked. "How did we get behind the Puffs? We were ahead of them last time I looked at the points," Harry said. Ron chuckled. "It's not funny Ronald! Professor McGonagall took a bunch of points from Fred and George because they blew up a toilet to send you that toilet seat," Hermione said, shaking her head. Harry, Ron, and Neville looked at each other, and burst out laughing. Hermione shook her head again, then chuckled with them.

As soon as everyone had taken their seat, Dumbledore stood up. The chatter died down as all the students looked up at him. "Well, that's another year gone. Before I get into the awarding of the House Cup, I hope you will indulge me in a couple of words. You are about to head away from here and probably forget everything you learned this year," Dumbledore said. Everyone laughed at this. "And that's okay. That just leaves your minds empty to learn next year!" Dumbledore said, laughing. "But in all seriousness, I am proud of the effort you all put in. The test scores were very good this year. So well done everyone. Now, on to what you all want to hear. As you can see, the scores are posted behind me, but some changes need to be made," Dumbledore said. At this, the students looked up at him confused. The teachers smiled behind him.

"You are all aware of events that took place a few days ago. And because of those events, we need to award points. To Mr. Ronald Weasley, I award 50 points for the bravery and courage that it takes to sacrifice yourself for the ultimate good. Thank you Mr. Weasley," Dumbledore said. Gryffindor cheered, and Ron ducked his head down, his ears turning red.

"Second, to Ms. Hermione Granger, I award 50 points for the use of logic in the face of fire, quite literally I might add. Thank you Ms. Granger," Dumbledore said. Again, Gryffindor erupted in cheers. They were a hundred points up! Harry noticed that Hermione had buried her face in her arms; he suspected that she had burst into tears.

"Third, to Mr. Harry Potter, for cool nerve and outstanding courage, I award Gryffindor 60 points. Thank you Mr. Potter," Dumbledore said smiling. Gryffindor erupted into cheers once more. Those that could count while screaming themselves hoarse knew that they were now tied with Slytherin for first place! If only Dumbledore had given Harry one more point…

"And finally," Dumbledore began, causing a deafening silence among the students. "It is difficult to think straight in a tense situation, but even harder when your friends' lives are in danger. For the ability to think clearly in a dangerous situation, I award 25 points to Mr. Neville Longbottom," Dumbledore said. Whatever he was going to say next was drowned out by the eruption that came from the Gryffindor, Hufflepuff, and Ravenclaw table. Slytherin had won for 6 years in a row, so everyone wanted to see them defeated. Harry looked towards Neville, and could not see him because he was surrounded by so many Gryffindor's congratulating him.

"Well done Gryffindor," Dumbledore said, which no one heard. He waved his wand, changing the decorations in the Great Hall into red and gold to signify the win by Gryffindor.

* * *

After the feast, the students returned to their common rooms. Professor McGonagall followed the Gryffindor's, and stood in front of them to speak. "I have your exam results for everyone but the Fifth Years and Seventh Years. Seventh and Fifth Years, your results will come around the first week of August. Everyone else, please stand with your year so I can hand out your scores," McGonagall said. Harry gathered with the rest of his year, talking about how each of them did.

Once Harry got his results and opened them, he was pretty confused. He looked up and noticed that McGonagall was still standing there. "This may look confusing to you all. Up until this points, you have been getting percentage scores on your homework and exams. In the Wizarding World, we generally use a different grading system than most Muggleborns are used to. If you get an O, which stands for Outstanding, that means you have 88% or higher. If you obtained an EE, Exceeds Expectations, that means that you got between a 73-87%. If you got an A, Acceptable, that's somewhere between a 60-73%. A P, Poor, is somewhere between 46-59%. A D, Dreadful, is between 30-46%. If you managed to get less than 30%, then you got a T, Troll," McGonagall explained.

Hermione raised her hand. "Why do you not use this system at the beginning?" Hermione asked. "Most students are either not used to grades at all, or are too used to the Muggle system, so we usually use that for First Year, when you have other, more important things, to focus on," McGonagall explained. "Any other questions? Okay, last thing. You will notice that you have a class placement on your exam results. That is just among your House. We do not do a school placement until your OWL results." With that McGonagall turned and left the Common Room.

Harry looked back at his results and noticed that he did fairly well. He had 5 O's and two EE's. He even placed second in his house! Of course Hermione placed first. He and his friends discussed their scores for a bit before going to bed. Ron and Neville also did well, enough to move on to next year. They all went to bed reflecting back on the year. Harry had made some amazing friends, learned more about his parents, and discovered that he was actually kind of smart. He was not looking forward to going back to the Dursley's.

* * *

As Harry, Ron, Hermione, and Neville left the train at Kings Cross station the next day, they all looked at each other. "You all need to write me this summer. It's just me and my Gran, so I need something to help with the boredom," Neville said grinning. They all laughed, gave each other hugs, and then walked towards the barrier. Neville saw his Gran first, and yelling goodbye, ran off towards her. Harry saw his relatives next. They were huddling off in the distance, looking disdainfully at anyone who looked different.

"Will you be okay Harry?" Hermione asked. Harry grinned, broadly. "Oh don't worry. They don't know we can't use magic in the summer. I am going to have so much fun," Harry said with a smirk. Hermione and Ron laughed, and Harry set off. When he reached the Dursley's, Uncle Vernon grunted, Aunt Petunia sniffed, and they turned around and walked to their car. Dudley was grabbing his behind as he walked towards the car. Harry dragged his trunk behind him. Uncle Vernon opened the boot and helped Harry with his trunk, then they got into the car.

When they got back to Number 4 Privet Drive, Dudley bolted out of the car, holding his rear. Harry chuckled under his breath as he also got out of the car. Vernon opened the boot, and then turned to Harry. "Listen boy. I will not have any of that freakishness under my roof," Vernon said, spraying spittle on Harry's face. "That trunk will go under the stairs as soon as you get inside, no buts. Do you hear me?" Vernon said harshly.

Harry nodded his head, but asked, "Can I please get my clothes out first? I packed all of them when I left for Hogwarts-" Vernon interrupted him. "Don't say the name of your school in my house!" Vernon whispered loudly. Harry, looking stricken, apologized. "Sorry Uncle Vernon. But can I get out my clothes please first?" Vernon nodded, then turned around and went into the house. Harry spent a few minutes trying to get his trunk out of the boot, and finally managed it. He dragged it into the house and saw Petunia holding open the door under the stairs. "Hurry up boy! I don't have all day!" she shrieked.

Harry got his trunk under the stairs and opened it up. He grabbed his clothes, making sure to hide his puzzle and his photo album in the bundle. "Okay Aunt Petunia, I have my clothes," Harry said, walking out of his old room. Petunia slammed the door closed, locking it behind her. "If you have any dirty clothes, you can wash it yourself. I am not washing your freaky clothes," Petunia said, harshly. Harry nodded, and walked up the stairs to his room. He put his clothes away in the wardrobe, making sure to hide the puzzle and his album.

* * *

Over the next few weeks, Harry worked on his puzzle in the night when the Dursley's were asleep. He knew that if Uncle Vernon or Aunt Petunia found it, they would throw it away. He made significant progress on it, and finally, he was down to a few pieces left. Harry felt great anticipation as he was putting the final pieces together. He had been working on this for months, and he was just about done. Harry put the final piece of the puzzle together, finishing the wooden tower. Harry had enough time to notice that the tower was carved with weird markings before a flash of light came from the tower, blinding Harry.

* * *

 **Author's Note**

 _Hey everyone! I hope you like this chapter. This is kind of an odd chapter. It kind of bridges the stuff that is mostly the same between this story and Jo's story, and the stuff that I will be changing. Starting Second Year, things will begin to drift farther and farther away from canon. A lot of the major events will still be there, but the way Harry handles them will be different, which will change how things play out._

 _Anyway, I hope you all like this. Please, review. Let me know what you think!_

 _Oh, and again, anything you recognize is not mine. I just play around with Jo's world._


	4. Chapter 4

**Chapter 4**

The bright light faded quickly, leaving Harry blinking spots out of his eyes. Once he could see again, Harry examined the fully completed puzzle. It was a 3-dimensional block of wood, about 10 centimeters on each side. Harry estimated that it was about 30 centimeters tall. Each face of the tower was covered in strange markings, almost like symbols. But the strangest part, besides the strange flash of light, was that it looked like the pieces of the puzzle had all fused together. Harry reached forward to see if he could feel the individual pieces, but his hand was stopped short of the tower.

"What?" Harry whispered to himself. Harry's hand was stopped by something, but there was nothing visible in the way. Harry tried reaching around this invisible wall, and found that it completely surrounded the tower. Harry tried to push harder, thinking he might be able to break through. But no matter how hard he pushed, he could not break through the invisible wall.

Harry sat back. He thought back over this past year at Hogwarts. He had finally found a home; somewhere he belonged. While he wasn't the best in his year, he had done well in his classes. But for the life of him, he could not remember seeing anything like this barrier last year. Although, Harry had a good idea that it was probably a charm of some kind. He could almost hear Professor Flitwick's voice: "A charm is a piece of magic that affects an object in some way. It does not change the shape or change it into something else, but any other effect you want to make upon the object, a charm will do nicely." Harry smiled, remembering one of his favorite classes.

That being said, Harry could not think of what charm this was. _I need more information_ , Harry thought. He looked over at his desk. Hedwig was in her cage, looking over at him. Uncle Vernon had locked Hedwig in her cage as soon as he got back from Hogwarts. He didn't want Harry contacting any of his friends- Harry stopped that thought. Thinking of his friends was beginning to hurt. It had been three weeks since the end of Hogwarts, and he had yet to receive even a piece of mail. He was starting to wonder if they had forgotten about him.

He looked back at Hedwig. "Well girl, I need to figure this out. To do that, I am gonna need to get you out of there. I know Uncle Vernon and Aunt Petunia won't let you out, so I am gonna have to sneak you out. How though?" Harry asked himself. Hedwig hooted, and ruffled her feathers, pleased. Harry smiled gently at her. "Well, in those cartoons Dudley always talks about, the villains could open locks without a key. Maybe I could learn that?" Harry said, thinking out loud. Harry thought about it, then shook his head.

"Yeah, that's a good idea, but I don't have the first idea on how to do that. If only I was at Hogwarts and I could go to the library…" Harry said, trailing off. "Wait a minute! I could go to the library! Little Whinging has a public library. I might be able to find something there," Harry said, excited. Hedwig hooted, happily. "That's right girl, you're gonna get out of there soon. Once you are, I can figure this out," Harry said, looking back at the tower. But who should he ask for help? Hermione is very smart, and she might- Harry stopped. No, he wasn't going to ask her. Maybe if she sent a letter soon and said why she had forgotten him. Maybe Ron? Harry snorted. No, even if Harry wasn't mad at him, Harry wouldn't ask Ron. He was never one to know information that could be found in a textbook. Maybe Professor Flitwick? Harry cocked his head, thinking. _That should work_ , Harry thought. With a plan in place to figure out the invisible wall, Harry got ready for bed.

The next day, after Harry had made breakfast, washed the car, and cut the lawn, Harry finally had a chance to talk to Aunt Petunia. He decided not to ask during breakfast because he knew that Uncle Vernon would not let him go since it would make Harry happy. Once Harry had a quick shower after his chores, he went downstairs to Aunt Petunia. She was in the kitchen, washing the dishes from lunch.

"Your sandwich is on the counter. Don't make a mess," Petunia said without looking up. Harry picked up his sandwich. "Thanks Aunt Petunia," Harry said. He quickly ate his lunch, then handed Petunia his plate. "Umm, Aunt Petunia?" Harry said, hesitantly. Petunia sighed. "What is it?"

"Well, I was wondering if I could go to the library for a while today," Harry asked. Petunia scoffed. "Why would you want to go to the library? They don't have any freaky books there," she asked, still washing dishes. Harry smiled slightly. "Well, I want to see if I can catch up on my," Harry hesitated, "...normal studies. So I thought I would go look at some books in the library," Harry said. Petunia turned around, looking at Harry, calculating. "I don't believe you for a second," she said. Harry looked at her, surprised. He opened his mouth to speak, but Petunia cut him off.

"But I don't care. I could use some time to deep clean the upstairs hallway and bathroom. Don't come back until 5:30. And don't be late!" Petunia said. She turned back around to finish the dishes. Harry couldn't believe his luck. He immediately left the house and started to walk to the public library. Thankfully, it was only a 10 minute walk. Hopefully he would find a book on lock picking, or at least something to help him figure it out.

* * *

Later that night, after everyone had gone to bed, Harry pulled out the book he borrowed from the library: _Lock Picking for Dummies_. When he was at the library, the name stood out to him because it was amusing, but found that it was exactly what he was looking for. Harry looked over at Hedwig. "I will have you out of there soon!"

Harry spent the next week reading the book and practicing the skills in it. He started with his door. It had a lock on the outside, so he would open the door, lock it, and try and pick the lock. Of course, he would only do this at night while his family was sleeping. He spent the day reading the book and making some notes. The book said he needed some kind of metal to use as a tool, making mention of a few that would work, like a paperclip or a hairpin. So Harry found a couple paperclips that he used while he practiced.

It took Harry two days to master picking the lock on his door. Thinking that the padlock would just as easy or even easier, Harry turned to picking the lock on Hedwig's cage. But that lock was more difficult than he thought. Harry turned back to his book, and read some more on lock picking padlocks. Finally, a week after borrowing the book from the library, Harry was finally able to pick the lock on Hedwig's cage. Harry opened the cage, then opened the window. As Hedwig rushed out, Harry watched her fly around with a smile of satisfaction.

"Okay girl, I need to send a letter. Come back here," Harry said. He rummaged around on his desk and found a piece of paper and a pencil. He wrote a letter to Professor Flitwick, asking about charms that could cause a invisible barrier around an object. Harry rolled up his letter and attached it to Hedwig's leg. He stroked Hedwig's feathers. "Take this to Professor Flitwick girl. Take some time though. Go out and hunt," Harry said, softly. He watched Hedwig spread her wings and fly out the window. Harry watched for a while, then put Hedwig's cage in the wardrobe to hide to from his relatives, just in case. With that, Harry went to sleep.

* * *

The night after Harry sent Hedwig with the letter, he snuck downstairs and picked the lock for the cupboard under the stairs. Harry grabbed a quill, some ink, and a piece of parchment, so that he could copy down the strange markings on the tower. While he was there, he also grabbed his summer homework. The next day, after his chores, Harry began copying down the symbols. While he couldn't touch the tower, he could move it by grabbing the invisible wall. This allowed him to see all 6 sides. He copied down every marking for each side, making sure that he wrote them down in the order they appeared. The next day, once he was done with copying the markings down, Harry went to begin looking for any symbols that repeated, but he was called away to do some more chores, and didn't get a chance to look at it the rest of the day.

The next day, however, he got his chance. Everyone was out of the house. Vernon was at work, Dudley was out with his friends, and Petunia went to London to do some shopping. Harry took this chance to look further at the symbols on the tower. He noticed that while none of the sides were the same, there were several repeated symbols. On the back of the piece of parchment, Harry began copying the symbols that showed up multiple times, along with how many times it appeared. Harry was halfway through writing that down when he heard a SNAP behind him, followed by screeching and howls of pain. Harry turned around sharply to see Hedwig was the one screeching and dive-bombing an odd creature. Harry, thankful that everyone was out of the house right now, jumped up and walked over to Hedwig.

"Hedwig! Stop. What's going on?" Harry shouted. Hedwig, hearing Harry's voice, looked over at Harry and landed on his proffered arm. Harry noticed that her feathers were ruffled and there was bits of string hanging from her talon. Getting suspicious, Harry turned back to the creature. Looking back at Harry was a meter tall creature with bat like ears and large, bulging eyes. It was wearing a ragged pillowcase that was covered in stains. Its eyes were an odd shade of green, almost reminding Harry of tennis balls.

"I apologize for Hedwig, but who are you?" Harry asked. The creature looked up at Harry with tears in its eyes. "It is being okay, sir. I is being Dobby the house-elf," Dobby said in a high, squeaky voice. Harry looked nonplussed. "Um, forgive me if this is offensive, but what is a house-elf?" Harry asked carefully. Dobby looked at Harry, shocked. "Harry Potter sir is not knowing of house-elfs?" Dobby exclaimed. Harry shook his head.

"No. As you can see, I live with muggles and have no idea on lots of things about the Wizarding World, house-elves included," Harry said. "Now why don't you take a seat and tell me what a house-elf is." With that, Dobby burst into tears. Harry jerked forward, startled. "What's wrong Dobby? I didn't mean to offend you," Harry said, panicked. "I has never been asked to sit down, like an equal, before, Harry Potter sir," Dobby said between sobs.

Harry looked shocked. "Really? Then you must not have met many nice people," Harry said. Dobby nodded, then froze. He ran to the wall and banged his head against the wall twice. Harry stared at him, surprised. "Dobby, why did you do that? Are you okay?" Harry asked, walking over to Dobby and helping him up. Dobby rubbed his head. "I is being okay Harry Potter sir. I's being bad, and I's punishing myself. I said something bad about my masters," Dobby said. He sat down carefully on Harry's bed. "House-elfs is serving masters for long time. We's doing the cooking, cleaning, anything ours masters being wanting," Dobby said, explaining about house-elves.

Harry looked shocked. "Wow. That's crazy. How much do you get paid?" Harry asked, almost afraid of the answer. Dobby shook his head. "House-elfs not being paid. They is being where we gets our magics from," Dobby explained. Harry looked thoughtful. "Oh. That works I guess. We get services rendered, you get magic. Sounds like a good tradeoff to me," Harry said smiling down at Dobby. "But why do you punish yourself? I'm sure your masters would understand that it was an accident."

Dobby shook his head furiously. "Oh no. They's be reminding me to punish me quite often, sir. They many times suggest different things I could do," Dobby said quickly. Dobby looked stricken again and jumped at the window, shouting "Bad Dobby!" He crashed into it, shocking Hedwig. "Dobby! Don't do that!" Harry said, running over to help Dobby up. Harry made a note to himself to not talk about Dobby's masters if he could help it. Also to find them if he could, Harry thought fiercely.

"Okay, let's talk about something else. Like why you stole the letter from my owl," Harry said, looking sharply at Dobby. Dobby looked down, his ears drooping. Reaching into his pillowcase, Dobby pulled out a small stack of letters. "Are those mine?!" Harry asked, loudly. "No wonder I never got letters from my friends!" Dobby looked up at Harry apologetically. "I is being sorry, Harry Potter, but Dobby has a reason," Dobby said. Harry folded his arms, unimpressed. "Okay, let's hear it then. Why did you steal my mail?" Harry asked.

Dobby's face grew solemn. "There is being a plot, a most terrible plot at Hogwarts School this year. Harry Potter must not go back to Hogwarts! Dobby is thinking that if you thought your friends not being friends anymore, you not wanting to go back," Dobby said gravely. Harry started. "Not go back? I have to go back! I can't stay here!" Harry exclaimed. Dobby shook his head, ears flapping. "Harry Potter is too great to lose. If Harry Potter is being at Hogwarts this year, terrible things will be happening to him!"

Harry sat there, blinking. "What plot? Who is plotting, and what exactly is the plot?" Harry asked. Dobby got a strange look on his face, and said, "Dobby cannot say." "What, is it your master?" Harry said, not thinking. Dobby immediately got still, then rushed over to the wall and began pounding his head against the wall. "Bad Dobby! Bad Dobby!" Dobby cried. Harry rushed over and pulled Dobby away from the wall. "Sorry, Dobby, forget I asked that." Harry made a mental note to really find out who his masters were.

"Thanks for the warning Dobby. But I can't stay here. And now that I know my friends didn't forget about me, there is no reason to not go back," Harry said to Dobby, who was on Harry's bed, cradling his head. Dobby shot to his feet. "But Harry Potter must stay away! He is too important to lose. Harry Potter must be promising Dobby. You must not go back," Dobby exclaimed, before he calmed down. "Dobby be giving you your letters back if you promise to not go back to Hogwarts," Dobby said. Harry looked at Dobby, startled.

"Why are you telling me this anyway Dobby? Shouldn't you be telling someone like Dumbledore? Do you even know who Professor Dumbledore is?" Harry asked Dobby. Dobby nodded his head, looking up at Harry. "Dobby has heard of Albas Dumbledore. It is being said that he could match the powers of He-Who-Must-Not-Be-Named at the height of his power. But this… there are powers Dumbledore… powers no decent wizard would ever –" Dobby stopped himself and grabbed Harry's lamp and started hitting himself over the head.

Harry, thinking _This is my chance!_ , rushed over to stop Dobby. He pulled the lamp away from Dobby and walked Dobby back to the bed. On the way, while Dobby was distracted by his pain, Harry snuck his hand into Dobby's pocket and swiped his letters, stuffing them into his pocket. Dobby, leaking tears from the pain, looked up at Harry. "Promise Dobby, Harry Potter. Promise Dobby that you won't go back!" Dobby said, doing his best to keep tears back. Harry hesitated, feeling pity for Dobby, but shook his head and said, "I'm sorry Dobby, but I belong at Hogwarts. I can't stay here." Dobby's face fell even further. "Then Dobby is sorry, but Dobby must do what Dobby must do," Dobby said, then popped away.

Harry looked at his bed in shock. "Where did he go?" Harry asked himself. He looked around his room, hoping to see him, but Dobby wasn't there. Just then, Harry heard a loud crash from downstairs. Harry went white. _Oh please no. Please tell me he didn't break anything_. Harry ran downstairs to see what the damage was. In the lounge, Harry found Dobby, waiting for him. On the floor was the pieces of Aunt Petunia's favorite decorative urn that, up until now, had been on the mantle of the fireplace. As soon as Harry saw Dobby, he said, "Dobby is sorry, but Harry Potter must not go back to Hogwarts." With those parting words, Dobby popped away again. Harry barely even noticed Dobby popping away, so consumed was he by the shattered urn. _Aunt Petunia is going to kill me. I am so dead_ …

* * *

Later that night, Harry reflected on his family's reactions. Harry cleaned the floor up as best he could, but didn't throw away the pieces, knowing that would only bring more trouble. Thinking quickly, Harry got out the duster and dusted off the rest of the mantle and the room, hoping to be able to explain the broken urn as an accident while dusting. Thankfully, Aunt Petunia believed him. Although, that didn't stop her from slapping him quite hard and sending him up to his room without dinner.

Coming out of his reflection, Harry looked over to his letters that he got away from Dobby. He had one letter each from Ron, Hermione, Neville, and Professor Flitwick. There was also a letter from someone Harry did not know. Deciding to read the unfamiliar one last, he pulled Ron's letter to him and opened it. Unfurling the parchment, Harry saw Ron's untidy scrawl.

 _Harry,_

 _How is your summer going so far? Mine is great! No classes, no professors, nothing but days of fun, eating, and sleeping. It's like a paradise. We have a pond outside of the Burrow, which is my house, so I have been swimming a lot so far. We even have a Quidditch pitch! So I have been playing that, although that only happens when Fred, George and I can convince Percy to play as well, which, as you can imagine, doesn't happen very often. I know that you have mentioned a few times that you don't particularly like your Aunt and Uncle, so I was wondering if you wanted to come over for three weeks this summer. I talked it over with my mum and dad, and they are both okay with it. Write me back and let me know what you think!_

 _Ron_

 _P.S. I know you don't get the paper, but the Cannons still haven't won yet. But they showed some good signs last game, I think they might have a shot at a win next game!_

Harry smiled at that ending. The Chudley Cannons will never win, at least not anytime soon. But the idea of going over to Ron's was something that sparked Harry's interest. Harry looked around his room, stopping at Hedwig. "What do you think girl? Want to get away from here and stay with Ron for a couple weeks?" Harry said. Hedwig shuffled her feathers, hooting in pleasure. Setting Ron's letter aside, Harry picked up Hermione's letter. Opening it, Hermione's neat and tidy writing was revealed.

 _Harry,_

 _How is your summer? I hope you haven't slacked off too much. You do have summer homework you know. Don't put it off for too long, you don't want to rush it at the last minute. Pay particular attention to the Transfiguration essay, that one is fairly difficult. Let me know if you need any help. While it may come as a surprise to you, but I have spent some time away from my homework and studies so far. Mum and Dad have planned a trip to Spain this summer, so I am super excited for that. They have so many interesting things there, especially the historical sites. They are just fascinating! I even heard that their magical sector is extensive! I cannot wait. I have spoken with Ron, and I know he is planning on asking you to go over to his place for a couple weeks this summer. I was wondering if you wanted to come over to my place as well. If you want to, my parents could come pick you up on August 5_ _th_ _after work and keep you over the weekend. Then you can go to the Weasley's on Monday. What do you think? My parents already said it would be fine, so let me know as soon as you can!_

 _Hermione_

Harry chuckled. That was so Hermione, Harry thought. He quite liked the idea of going over to Hermione's as well. He would get to see two of his friends this summer. Maybe while he is at Ron's he could see if they could visit Neville at his place. Speaking of Neville, Harry opened Neville's letter.

 _Harry,_

 _I hope this finds you well. I also hope your summer is going well. What have you been doing? My Grandmother required that I get my homework done right away, so I already have that done. It's nice, now I don't have it hanging over me all summer. Have you started? What did you think of that Potions essay? Without Snape breathing down my neck, I think I did pretty well. Well, at least I did well with the ingredient part. I have grown snotgrass before, so I knew a lot about it. Just a tip, when you are using snotgrass, it is best to dry it before using. Then it is much easier to grind into a powder. Now that I am done with my homework, I get to spends my days working in my greenhouse! My Great Uncle Algie likes to bring me new plants when he visits, and he just brought me a Venomous Tentacula! Or at least, a new version of it. Someone my uncle knows is trying to breed a less dangerous version. It is awesome! Anyway, I hope your summer goes well. Write back and let me know what you have been up to!_

 _Neville_

Harry looked up confused, then shook his head, assuming that snotgrass must be a part of the Potions homework. Thanking Neville for his help, Harry turned to Flitwick's letter. Noticing the Hogwarts seal on the parchment, Harry carefully unsealed the letter, opening it up.

 _Mr. Potter,_

 _I have to say, it was quite a surprise to receive your letter. It is not often I get letters from my students in the summer. In fact, I believe that last one was from your mother! Anyway, the shock of getting one was not as bad as the surprise over what you were asking. It is not often I get a prospective Second Year asking about wards. While you were very general with what you were describing, I can say with some certainty that you are talking about a ward. The kind of ward would depend on the Runes used to anchor it. We don't talk much about them in Charms. They are mostly a separate class, that you can take in your seventh year. I am glad to see some interest from you in Charms! Enjoy the rest of your summer Mr. Potter._

 _Professor Filius Flitwick_

Harry looked over at the tower, now knowing that the strange markings are Runes and that force field is a ward. _Now that I know what it is, now I want to figure out what kind of ward it is, and maybe how to get at the tower_. Putting that thought aside for now, Harry pulled over the last letter. Scrawled across the front was: _From: Bill, Cursebreaker_. Wondering who Bill was, and what a Cursebreaker is, Harry opened the letter.

 _To whom it may concern,_

 _Congratulations on completing the puzzle! You may or may not be aware, but putting this puzzle together is just one step in the application to becoming a Cursebreaker. To complete the application, you need to discover what kind of ward is over the tower, and take down the ward, or, break it. You must also, of course, have the requisite NEWTS in Transfiguration, Charms, Defense Against the Dark Arts, Ancient Runes, Artihmancy, and Warding. A couple hints to help you on your way to figuring out what ward this is and how to break it: The symbols are all Runes, and they will be able to tell you what this ward does. Deciphering them will be your first step. To actually break the ward, you will need some advanced Artihmancy, used in a way that you have not seen before. I wish you the best of luck, and hope to see you soon as a Cursebreaker._

 _Bill Weasley_

 _P.S. This must be done without any help beyond the information I have given you in this letter. Trust me, the Goblins will know if you get help. Your application will then be immediately declined._

Harry sat back, thinking hard. So it was all a test. A test to see if you can be a Cursebreaker, whatever that is. Well, if it's a test, then it's a test Harry aimed to pass. While this letter answered a few questions about the tower, it brought up all new ones. But Harry could find those answers at Hogwarts. He wrote responses to Ron, Hermione, and Neville, accepting Hermione's and Ron's invitations to stay with them. He also made sure to mention what happened with Dobby, just in case they wondered why he never responded. After sending Hedwig off with the letters, he collapsed into bed, drained. It had been a long day, but things were looking up. Harry now had something to strive for. This Cursebreaker thing sounded intriguing, especially since it helped him figure out the puzzle. He would become a Cursebreaker; he was just too interested to give up now.

* * *

 **Authors Note:**

 _Well, this is much later than I wanted it to be. Sorry for the delay, real life came calling and I didn't have much time for anything else. I hope this chapter makes up for it. A lot of you have been asking for changes from canon, and this chapter is the beginning of that._

 _Also, I just wanted to take a moment and explain a bit about the scene with Dobby. Specifically where Harry says it is a fair tradeoff, getting services rendered for magic. At this point, Harry doesn't know that the service is forever, Dobby just says a long time. He also doesn't know, but it comes up later in that conversation, that Dobby is not treated well. My thought process is that if the hosue-elf bond is done right, it is truly a good tradeoff. But when it is exploited like with Lucius Malfoy and Dobby, then it doesn't become a good thing at all._

 _As always, I don't own Harry Potter, I just play around in Jo's world. All thanks go to her._


End file.
